bala sharks

eckha

im new to the aquarium world and i have 2 bala sharks who get along quiet well and i recently purchased a male betta fish for my gf and at first they were getting along well and just recently i have noticed the betta keeps going after the bala sharks and it looks like its attacking them its only a 5 gal tank my bala sharks are still small once bigger i plan on upgrading to a bigger tank but for now what should i do about the betta fish and my bala sharks? i know the balas are not aggressive fish can anyone give me some advice?

Lupin

How soon are you going to upgrade and to what size? What size are the balas right now?

eckha

i plan on upgrading to a 40g+ tank because i know of how big they get but right now they are about 1.5 inches to 2 inches they still relavtively small for the tank

ArKitEKt47

dude, u need a bigger tank asap. 40g would be ok for now but definitely not for permanent housing. the betta will be fine in 5g but bala's need tanks that are a MINIMUM of 6ft x 2ft and 125g. as for the betta attacking... i'm not sure about the compatibility of the two species so i cant say for sure. if i had to guess, i'd say it was because the tank is so small and they're overcrowded. the 1" of fish per gallon rule doesnt really apply to larger species like the bala sharks.

herefishy

ArKitEKt47, did you read his post? He plans on upgrading. And I think that a 125g tank is a little overkill for a 2" fish. Maybe later, as the fish growout, he may be able to upgrade. But let's take some "baby steps" here. Let's pour the foundation before we put the roof on.

ArKitEKt47

i agree. what i meant was for now. when i meant bigger tank, i meant for permanent housing. for now they would definitely be okay in a 40g but i wouldnt put them in a 5g (or at least not for too long). that's just me. to me it sounded like he was planning on upgrading to a 40g for good. i dont know if he plans to upgrade a second time later to something larger than 40g because they would eventually need something bigger than that. i do know that sometimes beginners dont realize how big factors such as tank size and shoal size are. i dont know if he realizes but i know i didnt. once again, that's just me.

i've only been in the hobby for about a year so i'm definitely no expert. i've read your posts (herefishy) and i would definitely trust your opinion over my own. so if you think they're okay in a 5g then i'd suggest to eckha to go with that.